Select Region Drop Down Menu
The Select Region provides the user with a quick way to navigate to desired locations within Skagit County IMap. Clicking any of the links in the Select Region list will cause the map to zoom to the selected location. This drop down menu includes the view "Full County" which will return the user to the original overview map of Skagit County and surrounding areas.
 

Select View Drop Down Menu
The Select View provides the user with a quick way to build maps with preset layers within Skagit County IMap. Clicking any of the links in the Select View list will cause the map to rebuild to the selected region (see Select Region above) or the whatever current map view the user is displaying. This drop down menu includes all the available layers which can also be turned on or off in the layer view after the map is loaded. An aerial view layer is also offered in the select view drop down list with the ability to display a photographic aerial view of many areas of Skagit County. Please note: While you are in the "Show Aerial" viewing mode, most other view layers (such as Parcel layers) are unavailable: See FAQs for more information about the photographic aerial view of Skagit County.
 

Map Size

The map size can be changed allowing the user to view a map image that fits their screen size for their particular monitor resolution. To change the map size, the user must select the desired size from the Map Size drop-down list (Figure 5). Once selected, the map display will adjust according to the selected size. Preferences selected in Map Size are saved in a cookie on the users machine so it will be remembered the next time they use iMap.

 
Figure 5: Map Size drop-down list. 
Small, Medium and Large image sizes are available.

Search Functions
Search functions (Figure 3) provide the user with a quick method for finding parcels, roads, or other features. Parcels can be located by searching on Parcel Number, Address and Assessor Tax Account Number (Xref ID). These functions zoom the map display to the parcel if a single match is found or provide the user with a list of matching parcels to pick from. If the user knows the Section, Township, and Range, they can search by “Section” which will zoom the map page to a that Section. The individual search functions are described in the following sections.
 
Figure 3: Search by functions.

Search by Section
To zoom to a particular section, select the Section, Township, and Range in the drop-down lists and click the Zoom To button.
   

Search by Parcel
The user can locate and zoom to a parcel by providing the Assessor's Parcel Number. This number is on your tax statement and appraisal notices. Enter the Parcel ID number into the text box and click on the Zoom To button.
 

 Search by Address
Parcels can also be located by Address. Enter the House Number and the Street Name in the appropriate text boxes and click the Search button. Please note: By typing only a street name, partial street name or number, only and multiple Parcels will be returned to select from.

 

Search by Owner Name (Due to owner privacy concerns this feature is not available on www.skagitcounty.net)
To locate a parcel by owner name, enter the First Name and Last Name in the text boxes and click the Search button.
   

Search by Tax Account
To locate a parcel by Tax Account, enter the Assessor Tax Account Number in the text box and click the Search button. 

 

Search by Road Name
Simply type the desired road name into the text box. If you don't know the specific road name, this search uses CONTAINS logic, so you can type a Road Name or partial Road Name and all Roads with names that CONTAIN the information that you type in will be returned. If there are multiple roads with the same name (i.e.: "Main") all results will be listed along with a general location description to help the user locate the particular road location they are searching for.

 

Layers
Map layers represent the graphical information that is displayed on the map. Not all layers are displayed at all times. Layers are added and removed from the map automatically depending on the zoom level and cannot be added manually. As the user zooms in closer, more layers become visible and as the user zooms out, some layers are removed. Layers can be turned on and off by clicking the checkbox next to the name of the layer in the Map Layer list (Figure 4) and then by clicking the Rebuild Map button. Figure 4 shows the Railroads and the Roads as turned on.

 
Figure 4: Map Layer list.

Additional Layer Data/Information
Each layer title displayed in the layer legend contains a link to information about the data contained in that particular layer. Creation dates, an overview of the layer information and links to digital data (if applicable) all appear in a pop-up window when the user selects the layer title text.

Map Legend / Map Layers
The View Legend and View Layers buttons allow the user to toggle between viewing the map legend (Figure 6) and the map layers (Figure 7).

Figure 6: Map Legend.	Figure 7: Map Layers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What is iMap?

Reply: iMap is a new Internet Map Service (IMS) that allows interactive viewing of Skagit County geographic information. This new product is designed to run from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser and provides a simple set of tools to “quickly” view map information. You can now search on an address or property id number and the system will quickly display a map showing the parcel and other map information. This includes information, such as, fire districts, commissioner districts, zoning and comprehensive plan designations, zip codes, voting districts, and aerial photography. We plan to expand the list of layers and add links to other important county information. You can think of iMap as an “Information Portal”. The best way to see what iMap can do is to give it a try. To run it, just select the iMap icon. We encourage you to learn to use it by playing with it. However, if you need help you can get it by selecting the “?” symbol on the iMap tool bar.

Question: How To Report Errors Or Get Help?

Reply: It is important that a protocol is established and followed for reporting problems. If you encounter any problems, please submit them to gis@co.skagit.wa.us. By doing this, we will be able to efficiently record what is being reported and pass that information on to the appropriate personnel. When you report problems, please remember to include the following information:

Question: I work for an engineering/architectural firm and we are doing a project in Skagit County. One of the requirements for our SEPA submittal is to get names and addresses of all properties within 300’ of a specified parcel. How can I get this type of information?

Reply: In small areas, such as a 300 foot radius, you can use a combination of iMap and a manual mapping process to easily generate an address list. Here is how you can go about doing this:
1. Go to www.skagitcounty.net
2. In the upper right corner of the main page, select the iMap logo to run iMap
3. Once iMap is up, use the "Search By" "Address" tool on the far left side of the screen. Enter the "address" and "street name" information and then select the "Search" button.
4. Once you see the parcel, zoom out a little, if necessary, so that you have at least a 300 foot distance around the parcel.
5. Use the iMap print tool  to print the map to scale. Use a common scale like 1"=400 feet.
6. Take the printed sheet and manually draw a 300 foot radius from the center of the parcel. You should now see all the parcels that are within 300 feet of this address.
7. Next use iMap to list  the owner information for each of the parcels that intersect the 300 foot radius and save this information to a word processor or spreadsheet to create your address list.
 
The above method should work well in making address lists. If you have a lot of these types of lists to do you may want to consider getting GIS software or hiring a GIS consulting firm. We do plan to add this type of functionality to iMap in the future.

Question: What does “StatePlane Coordinates (NAD83):” mean in the lower left corner of iMap?

Reply: State Plane Coordinates (SPC) refer to a system of mathematics and geodetic constants that defines how a specific geographic location is converted to a set of two or three numbers, such as an x- and y-value (and possibly a z-value for elevation, also). In the cartographic context, most coordinate systems are Cartesian: the axes are orthogonal (perpendicular to each other) and the units are the same on all axes. The principal exception to this is the spherical coordinate system of latitudes and longitudes which is commonly used with Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Using a SPC (Cartesian) system helps us to remove the spherical scale distortion to draw (spherical) map features on a flat piece of paper. Essentially, the SPC system is similar to a soccer ball, in that, the ball represents the earth and panels represent the SPC system. There is a State Plane Coordinate system for each of the 50 states. We use the following system:

Question: What does “Lat-Lon (WGS-84):” mean in the lower left corner of iMap?

Reply: “Lat-Lon” are abbreviations for Latitude and Longitude. Latitude refers to the north/south component of the spherical coordinate system most widely used to record geodetic locations. Originally, when the earth was thought to be spherical, a degree of latitude represented one degree of arc on the surface of the earth, referenced to the center of the earth. Now that we know the earth to be ellipsoidal in shape, there are several types of latitude. The usual definition of latitude is the angle a line perpendicular to the surface of the ellipsoid (i.e. a plumb line) makes with the plane of the equator. This is also referred to as the geographic latitude or geodetic latitude. Whenever the unqualified term latitude is used, it is generally accepted that it refers to the geographic latitude. Normal conventions dictate that north latitudes be given in degrees, where positive numbers indicate north latitudes and negative numbers indicate south latitudes.

Longitude refers to the east/west component of the spherical coordinate system most widely used to record geodetic locations. Lines of longitude are great circles/geodesics, all of which pass through the north and south pole and intersect the equator. That is, all lines of longitude proceed in a true north/south direction. The imaginary lines of longitude are assigned values which represent, in degrees of arc, the distance of the line from the prime meridian. The line of longitude that passes through Greenwich, England is the most common prime meridian in use today.

WGS is an acronym for World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS-84) which is the United States Defense Mapping Agency's Datum. This datum is a global datum based on electronic technology which is still to some degree classified. Data on the relationship of as many as 65 different datums to WGS-84 is available to the public. As a result, WGS-84 is becoming the base datum for the processing and conversion of data from one datum to any other datum. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is based on this datum. It should be noted that the difference between WGS-84 and NAD83 datums are small, and is generally considered to be insignificant. (note: the above three definitions were obtained from Norm’s GIS Glossary of Mentor Software, Inc.)

All Latitude and Longitude units are shown in the WGS-84 datum and in decimal degrees.

Question: I can't see “Lat-Lon (WGS-84):” coordinates in the status bar.

Reply: In Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft has disabled the ability for a site to display its own text in the browser's status bar. This applies to applets as well as non-applet-related scripts in web pages.
IE7 users can override this new setting by choosing Tools> Internet Options> Security> Custom Level and enabling the option labelled "Allow status bar updates via script". However, as far as we're aware, there's no way for status bar text to be shown in Internet Explorer 7 if the user hasn't manually enabled this option.
Incidentally, status bar text will appear when viewing a web page located on a local disk: this new security setting only takes effect when viewing web-based content.

Question: Can I store State Plane Coordinates in my GPS receiver to navigate to my property corner?

Reply: Most consumer level GPS receivers have the ability to navigate to Latitude and Longitude coordinate pairs. Although iMap displays both State Plane and Latitude/Longitude pairs, Skagit County does not make any claim to the accuracy of this information. Additionally, there are other factors that have a significant impact on GPS navigation, such as, map and equipment accuracy. If you are attempting to find your property corners, you need to contact a professional Licensed Land Surveyor.

Question: Why Am I Unable To View The Aerial Photography With Other Data Layers Simultaneously?

Reply: This problem is due to the difference in positional accuracy of each data layer. Positional accuracy is a measure of how close a mapped feature is in reference to it’s real position on the earth’s surface. This can vary substantially depending on the methods used to create the map. For example, the color aerial photography that we use in the County has an accuracy of plus or minus 6 feet. This means that any given spot on the map can be off as much as 6 feet from its true position on the earth. The Assessor parcels, on the other hand, were never designed to meet a specific accuracy standard and can have errors, in some locations, as great as 300 feet. When you overlay the aerial photography with the parcels you will likely see a shifting effect between the two layers of information. This is especially true in Alger, Big Lake, La Conner, Sedro-Woolley and portions of Mount Vernon. Showing the aerial photography, which is high accuracy data, with lower accuracy data layers, like parcels, is kind of like mixing oil and water.

Unfortunately, this is not an easy problem to correct. Building a new parcel map with a one-foot positional accuracy requires surveying several hundred square miles of land: a costly and labor-intensive project. There is no easy automated solution that can correct this problem. It will likely take millions of dollars to build an accurate parcel layer. Some people have asked, “Why don’t you just fix the bad areas”. Although this sounds reasonable, the problem is similar to lining up dominos and watching them knock each other over. Changes to one square mile, in turn, domino into the other 1735 square miles. The problem quickly becomes very complex. At this point, the County has not put this problem as a high priority. Therefore, it may be some time before you will get the opportunity to see property lines with aerial photography. As with all of our data layers, we provide the following Map Accuracy Warning:

Map Accuracy Warning:These maps were created from available public records and existing map sources not from field surveys. Map features from all sources have been adjusted to achieve a best-fit registration to the Ownership Parcels map. While great care was taken in this process, maps from different sources rarely agree as to the precise location of geographic features. The relative positioning of map features to one another results from combining different map sources without field ground truthing. THIS MAP IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR FIELD SURVEY.

Updates and Version and Release Notes: